Old Man Of The Woods

Description:

Cap: 3-15 cm; convex becoming broadly convex in age; dry; covered with large, black, soft, woolly scales over a whitish to grayish base color; the margin frequently with hanging remnants of a whitish to grayish partial veil. Pore Surface: Whitish, becoming gray to black; bruising red, then black; pores angular, 1-3 per mm; tubes to 2 cm deep. Stem: 4-12 cm long; 1-2.5 cm thick; more or less equal; grayish to blackish; shaggy; sometimes reticulate near the apex; often with an ephemeral ring or ring zone; solid. Flesh: Whitish throughout, turning pinkish to red when exposed, then blackening over the course of an hour. Odor and Taste: Not distinctive. Chemical Reactions: Ammonia yellowish to negative on flesh. KOH reddish, then brownish orangish on flesh. Iron salts bluish gray to greenish on flesh. Spore Print: Blackish brown to black.

Habitat:

Mycorrhizal with hardwoods, especially oaks; common; summer and fall; primarily distributed in eastern North America but also recorded from the Southwest.

Notes:

This one was found by my Water Well Pump House along a privacy fence under some mixed conifer and hard wood. This area is shady most days getting little sun. There is thick moss close by indicating the presence of water.